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Файл:The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes X
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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES • X
was in a poor way after his African experiences, and both his
mother and I were of opinion that camplete rest and change
were needed. Kindly pass that explanation on to any other
friends who may be interested in the matter.’
“’Certainly,’ I answered. ‘But perhaps you would have the
goodness to let me have the name of the steamer and of the
line by which he sailed, together with the date. I have no
doubt that I should be able to get a letter through to him.’
“My request seemed both to puzzle and to irritate my host.
His great eyebrows came down over his eyes, and he tapped
his fi ngers impatiently on the table. He looked up at last with
the expression of one who has seen his adversary make a dangerous move at chess, and has decided how to meet it.
“’Many people, Mr. Dodd,’ said he, ‘would take offence at
your infernal pertinacity and would think that this insistence
had reached the point of damned impertinence.’
“’You must put it down, sir, to my real love for your son.’
“’Exactly. I have already made every allowance upon
that score. I must ask you, however, to drop these inquiries.
Every family has its own inner knowledge and its own motives, which cannot always be made clear to outsiders, however well-intentioned. My wife is anxious to hear something
of Godfrey’s past which you are in a position to tell her, but
I would ask you to let the present and the future alone. Such
inquiries serve no useful purpose, sir, and place us in a delicate and diffi cult position.’
“So I came to a dead end, Mr. Holmes. There was no getting
past it. I could only pretend to accept the situation and register a vow inwardly that I would never rest until my friend’s
11
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
fate had been cleared up. It was a dull evening. We dined quietly, the three of us, in a gloomy, faded old room. The lady
questioned me eagerly about her son, but the old man seemed
morose and depressed. I was so bored by the whole proceeding
that I made an excuse as soon as I decently could and retired
to my bedroom. It was a large, bare room on the ground fl oor,
as gloomy as the rest of the house, but after a year of sleeping
upon the veldt, Mr. Holmes, one is not too particular about
one’s quarters. I opened the curtains and looked out into the
garden, remarking that it was a fi ne night with a bright halfmoon. Then I sat down by the roaring fi re with the lamp on
a table beside me, and endeavoured to distract my mind with
a novel. I was interrupted, however, by Ralph, the old butler,
who came in with a fresh supply of coals.
“’I thought you might run short in the night-time, sir. It is
bitter weather and these rooms are cold.’
“He hesitated before leaving the room, and when I looked
round he was standing facing me with a wistful look upon his
wrinkled face.
“’Beg your pardon, sir, but I could not help hearing what
you said of young Master Godfrey at dinner. You know, sir,
that my wife nursed him, and so I may say I am his foster-father. It’s natural we should take an interest. And you say he
carried himself well, sir?’
“’There was no braver man in the regiment. He pulled me
out once from under the rifl es of the Boers, or maybe I should
not be here.’
“The old butler rubbed his skinny hands.
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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES • X
“’Yes, sir, yes, that is Master Godfrey all over. He was always courageous. There’s not a tree in the park, sir, that he has
not climbed. Nothing would stop him. He was a fi ne boy —
and oh, sir, he was a fi ne man.’
“I sprang to my feet.
“’Look here!’ I cried. ‘You say he was. You speak as if he
were dead. What is all this mystery? What has become of Godfrey Emsworth?’
“I gripped the old man by the shoulder, but he shrank
away.
“’I don’t know what you mean, sir. Ask the master about
Master Godfrey. He knows. It is not for me to interfere.’
“He was leaving the room, but I held his arm
“’Listen,’ I said. ‘You are going to answer one question before you leave if I have to hold you all night. Is Godfrey dead?”
“He could not face my eyes. He was like a man hypnotized
The answer was dragged from his lips. It was a terrible and
unexpected one.
“’I wish to God he was!’ he cried, and, tearing himself free
he dashed from the room.
“You will think, Mr. Holmes, that I returned to my chair
in no very happy state of mind. The old man’s words seemed
to me to bear only one interpretation. Clearly my poor friend
had become involved in some criminal or, at the least, disreputable transaction which touched the family honour. That
stern old man had sent his son away and hidden him from the
world lest some scandal should come to light. Godfrey was a
reckless fellow. He was easily infl uenced by those around him.
No doubt he had fallen into bad hands and been misled to
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ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
his ruin. It was a piteous business, if it was indeed so, but even
now it was my duty to hunt him out and see if I could aid him.
I was anxiously pondering the matter when I looked up, and
there was Godfrey Emsworth standing before me.”
My client had paused as one in deep emotion.
“Pray continue,” I said. “Your problem presents some very
unusual features.”
“He was outside the window, Mr. Holmes, with his face
pressed against the glass. I have told you that I looked out at
the night. When I did so I left the curtains partly open. His
fi gure was framed in this gap. The window came down to the
ground and I could see the whole length of it, but it was his
face which held my gaze. He was deadly pale — never have I
seen a man so white. I reckon ghosts may look like that; but
his eyes met mine, and they were the eyes of a living man. He
sprang back when he saw that I was looking at him, and he
vanished into the darkness.
“There was something shocking about the man, Mr.
Holmes. It wasn’t merely that ghastly face glimmering as
white as cheese in the darkness. It was more subtle than that
— something slinking, something furtive, something guilty —
something very unlike the frank, manly lad that I had known.
It left a feeling of horror in my mind.
“But when a man has been soldiering for a year or two
with brother Boer as a playmate, he keeps his nerve and acts
quickly. Godfrey had hardly vanished before I was at the
window. There was an awkward catch, and I was some little
time before I could throw it up. Then I nipped through and
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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES • X
ran down the garden path in the direction that I thought he
might have taken.
“It was a long path and the light was not very good, but it
seemed to me something was moving ahead of me. I ran on
and called his name, but it was no use. When I got to the end
of the path there were several others branching in different
directions to various outhouses. I stood hesitating, and as I
did so I heard distinctly the sound of a closing door. It was
not behind me in the house, but ahead of me, somewhere in
the darkness. That was enough, Mr. Holmes, to assure me that
what I had seen was not a vision. Godfrey had run away from
me, and he had shut a door behind him. Of that I was certain.
“There was nothing more I could do, and I spent an uneasy
night turning the matter over in my mind and trying to fi nd
some theory which would cover the facts. Next day I found
the colonel rather more conciliatory, and as his wife remarked
that there were some places of interest in the neighbourhood,
it gave me an opening to ask whether my presence for one
more night would incommode them. A somewhat grudging
acquiescence from the old man gave me a clear day in which
to make my observations. I was already perfectly convinced
that Godfrey was in hiding somewhere near, but where and
why remained to be solved.
“The house was so large and so rambling that a regiment
might be hid away in it and no one the wiser. If the secret lay
there it was diffi cult for me to penetrate it. But the door which
I had heard close was certainly not in the house. I must explore the garden and see what I could fi nd. There was no dif-
15
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
fi culty in the way, for the old people were busy in their own
fashion and left me to my own devices.
“There were several small outhouses, but at the end of the
garden there was a detached building of some size — large
enough for a gardener’s or a gamekeeper’s residence. Could
this be the place whence the sound of that shutting door had
come? I approached it in a careless fashion as though I were
strolling aimlessly round the grounds. As I did so, a small,
brisk, bearded man in a black coat and bowler hat — not at
all the gardener type — came out of the door. To my surprise,
he locked it after him and put the key in his pocket. Then he
looked at me with some surprise on his face.
“’Are you a visitor here?’ he asked.
“I explained that I was and that I was a friend of Godfrey’s.
“’What a pity that he should be away on his travels, for he
would have so liked to see me,’ I continued.
“’Quite so. Exactly,’ said he with a rather guilty air. ‘No
doubt you will renew your visit at some more propitious time.’
He passed on, but when I turned I observed that he was standing watching me, half-concealed by the laurels at the far end
of the garden.
“I had a good look at the little house as I passed it, but the
windows were heavily curtained, and, so far as one could see,
it was empty. I might spoil my own game and even be ordered
off the premises if I were too audacious, for I was still conscious that I was being watched. Therefore, I strolled back to
the house and waited for night before I went on with my inquiry. When all was dark and quiet I slipped out of my win-
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THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES • X
dow and made my way as silently as possible to the mysterious
lodge.
“I have said that it was heavily curtained, but now I found
that the windows were shuttered as well. Some light, however,
was breaking through one of them, so I concentrated my attention upon this. I was in luck, for the curtain had not been
quite closed, and there was a crack in the shutter, so that I
could see the inside of the room. It was a cheery place enough,
a bright lamp and a blazing fi re. Opposite to me was seated
the little man whom I had seen in the morning. He was smoking a pipe and reading a paper.”
“What paper?” I asked.
My client seemed annoyed at the interruption of his narrative.
“Can it matter?” he asked.
“It is most essential.”
“I really took no notice.”
“Possibly you observed whether it was a broad-leafed paper or of that smaller type which one associates with weeklies.”
“Now that you mention it, it was not large. It might have
been the Spectator. However, I had little thought to spare
upon such details, for a second man was seated with his back
to the window, and I could swear that this second man was
Godfrey. I could not see his face, but I knew the familiar slope
of his shoulders. He was leaning upon his elbow in an attitude
of great melancholy, his body turned towards the fi re. I was
hesitating as to what I should do when there was a sharp tap
on my shoulder, and there was Colonel Emsworth beside me.
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ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
“’This way, sir!’ said he in a low voice. He walked in silence
to the house, and I followed him into my own bedroom. He
had picked up a time-table in the hall.
“ There is a train to London at 8:30,’ said he. ‘The trap will
be at the door at eight.’
“He was white with rage, and, indeed, I felt myself in so
diffi cult a position that I could only stammer out a few incoherent apologies in which I tried to excuse myself by urging
my anxiety for my friend.
“’The matter will not bear discussion,’ said he abruptly.
‘You have made a most damnable intrusion into the privacy
of our family. You were here as a guest and you have become
a spy. I have nothing more to say, sir, save that I have no wish
ever to see you again.’
“At this I lost my temper, Mr. Holmes, and I spoke with
some warmth.
“’I have seen your son, and I am convinced that for some
reason of your own you are concealing him from the world.
I have no idea what your motives are in cutting him off in
this fashion, but I am sure that he is no longer a free agent.
I warn you, Colonel Emsworth, that until I am assured as to
the safety and well-being of my friend I shall never desist in
my efforts to get to the bottom of the mystery, and I shall certainly not allow myself to be intimidated by anything which
you may say or do.’
“The old fellow looked diabolical, and I really thought he
was about to attack me. I have said that he was a gaunt, fi erce
old giant, and though I am no weakling I might have been
hard put to it to hold my own against him. However, after a
18
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES • X
long glare of rage he turned upon his heel and walked out
of the room. For my part, I took the appointed train in the
morning, with the full intention of coming straight to you
and asking for your advice and assistance at the appointment
for which I had already written.”
Such was the problem which my visitor laid before me. It
presented, as the astute reader will have already perceived, few
diffi culties in its solution, for a very limited choice of alternatives must get to the root of the matter. Still, elementary as it
was, there were points of interest and novelty about it which
may excuse my placing it upon record. I now proceeded, using
my familiar method of logical analysis, to narrow down the
possible solutions.
“The servants,” I asked; “how many were in the house?”
“To the best of my belief there were only the old butler
and his wife. They seemed to live in the simplest fashion.”
“There was no servant, then, in the detached house?”
“None, unless the little man with the beard acted as such.
He seemed, however, to be quite a superior person.”
“That seems very suggestive. Had you any indication that
food was conveyed from the one house to the other?”
“Now that you mention it, I did see old Ralph carrying a
basket down the garden walk and going in the direction of this
house. The idea of food did not occur to me at the moment.”
“Did you make any local inquiries?”
“Yes, I did. I spoke to the station-master and also to the
innkeeper in the village. I simply asked if they knew anything
of my old comrade, Godfrey Emsworth. Both of them assured
me that he had gone for a voyage round the world. He had
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ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
come home and then had almost at once started off again. The
story was evidently universally accepted.”
“You said nothing of your suspicions?”
“Nothing.”
“That was very wise. The matter should certainly be inquired into. I will go back with you to Tuxbury Old Park.”
“To-day?”
It happened that at the moment I was clearing up the case
which my friend Watson has described as that of the Abbey
School, in which the Duke of Greyminster was so deeply involved. I had also a commission from the Sultan of Turkey
which called for immediate action, as political consequences of
the gravest kind might arise from its neglect. Therefore it was
not until the beginning of the next week, as my diary records,
that I was able to start forth on my mission to Bedfordshire in
company with Mr. James M. Dodd. As we drove to Eustonn we
picked up a grave and tacitum gentleman of iron-grey aspect,
with whom I had made the necessary arrangements.
“This is an old friend,” said I to Dodd. “It is possible that
his presence may be entirely unnecessary, and, on the other
hand, it may be essential. It is not necessary at the present
stage to go further into the matter.”
The narratives of Watson have accustomed the reader,
no doubt, to the fact that I do not waste words or disclose my
thoughts while a case is actually under consideration. Dodd
seemed surprised, but nothing more was said, and the three of
us continued our journey together. In the train I asked Dodd
one more question which I wished our companion to hear.
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